PMD: Outset
by ecco-song
Summary: Set out on an Adventure full of fun, battle, mystery, friendships and most importantly Treasure.
1. Chapter 1: Haru

_Well, i've started whats probably going to end up being my longest project yet. well needless to say i own nothing, the cover was made for me by Blue_Typloshion, and i hope someone at least enjoyed this._

XXXXX

"Hey, are you ok?"

He heard a voice calling out to him in his hazy darkness, he couldn't move couldn't even make a sound. For a moment it felt like someone shook him but still he couldn't respond. How did he end up like this he thought, had he been hit by something?

"He doesn't look hurt, but he's not moving guys."

The voice had returned it sounded almost worried before another voice jumped.

"We just gotta wake him up right?" the second voice asked, much calmer than the first before there came a shuffling sound. He couldn't quite make it out what it was before he felt someone grab his head and prying his mouth open. He had no idea what was happening until his mouth was filled with an unbelievable bitterness. All at once any pain he felt along with the haze over his head had vanished though in it's place came confusion he still didn't know what had happened to him.

"That oughta do it." came the second voice followed by a gasp and the first voice saying "you can't just force feed that poor Buizel a revival herb!" 'A Buizel, was that what i was?' he thought. Slowly he opened his eyes to take in his surroundings, he seemed to have collapsed on a soft patch of grass in between a pair of trees. Standing just in front of him were what he guessed were the two voices he'd heard in his stupor, one of them was a short bluish bird like creature that looked at him with soft eyes a slight frown turning it's beak as it turned berating it's companion, a canine with snowy white fur and a slight mischievous smirk on her face as six tails seemed to twitch slightly behind her. A little behind them was a second canine, this one with shaggy dusty grey fur that had several patches of black around the paws and face, this one was sitting next to a messenger bag that he'd recognized as his own. He recognized all three of them, or what they were anyways, a Piplup, a Ice Vulpix and a Poochyena, and all female at that, though how he knew that much was beyond him.

"Hey he's waking up." the Piplup said getting the attention of the others who both turned to look at him. "You ok? whats your name?" the Piplup asked as she helped him sit up.

"I think so, I'm..." He started before pausing. What was his name he wondered, did he even remember it? He could remember much at all come to think of it, what exactly did he remember anyways? He remembered the types of pokemon that were sitting in front of him, though not much else, And since they'd mentioned it he did remember being a buizel orange fur and all. But what was his name.

"Are you sure you're alright?" It was the Vulpix that spoke up this time eyes narrowing in concern at the seeming loss of words that came from the Buizel.

"Yeah i just, i can't remember my name." He said voice quivering slightly, The three pokemon's eyes widened in shock before the trio huddled together off to the side.

"Ok, so he can't remember his name, that's probably not good." the piplup whispered too the other two loud enough that the Buizel in question still heard them from where he was now sitting up against one of the trees frowning in concentration.

"Hold on." the Vulpix whispered before lifting her head out of the huddle to talk to the Buizel "Do you remember anything at all?" She asked only for him to shake his head before answering.

"Some things, like what pokemon is what, but not much else." he said before asking a question of his own. "What's your names?"

"I'm Cream, the Piplup is Twizzler and the Poochyena is Luna." the Vupix, Cream, said pointing at each in turn with a frosty white paw before shuffling back into the huddle "Ok so he remembers a little bit but this is starting to sound alot like amnesia to me." Cream told the others.

"You might be right, and he's out here all alone, hey maybe if we help him he can help us?" Twizzler said pondering the idea even as she brought it up to the others.

"You want him to join us when we try to join the guild?" Luna said incredulously shuffling her paws in place.

"It would give him something to do until his memory returns...if it ever does, though if we do that it'll cost even more to leave the island." Cream contemplated "Lets ask him latter though, not now." the white fox finished nodding enthusiastically.

"Hey maybe there's something in his bag that'll jog his memory." Luna said excitedly running over and grabbing the messenger bag's strap in her teeth. Dragging it over to the Buizel who had remained mostly quite while the girls had been talking only to flinch as the bag in question was dropped into his lap. "We found this with you so it's gotta be yours, maybe something'll help you remember your name." the poochyena said hopefully.

"Maybe you're right." the Buizel agreed before reaching into the bag to remove it's contents. The first thing pulled out was what appeared to be a folded piece of mint green cloth. he slowly unfolded it the soft green clothing had a hood and a large pocket on the center front. It certainly looked like it would fit him, and it seemed familiar but didn't remind him of anything. As he was turning it around something fell out of the pocket, a decent sized, rectangular, pale orange gem like object that he immediately picked up off the ground.

"Oh a Pixicord, that could help!" Twizzler yelled over to the Buizel. The two other pokemon, her and Cream, deciding to sit down nearby the Buizel.

"A what?" the Buizel asked confused. Another thing he couldn't remember then he thought before sighing loudly.

"It's like a recorder, they're pretty rare but you have one, this could be really helpful." Twizzler started to explain. "Here hand it over." she asked reaching over to grab the device, the Buizel handing it over without complaint. "See they can store a certain amount of time as a recording, anywhere from hours to days depending on the Pixicord itself, alot of pokemon use them to record events and such." the Piplup continued to explain as she flipped the Pixicord around in her flippers as if searching for something. "If there's anything on here it should at least tell us a bit abou-" Twizzler paused for a moment, it looked like the blue bird had found what she was looking for. "Here we go this should start it up." She finished, pushing in a spot on the top of the Pixicord and holding it for all four to see, waiting for whatever the device would show to appear.

Nothing happened.

Nothing continued to happen for several minutes until Luna finally spoke up. "I think it's broken." the poochyena sighed before shaking her head vigorously "is there anything else in the bag?" she asked scraping her paws against the bag attempting to get into it herself until the Buizel pulled it away from her.

"Careful these were gifts." the Buizel said before realizing what he had said. "These were gifts!" he repeated excitedly.

"Do you remember who gave them to you?" Twizzler piped in glancing hopefully between all of them.

"No I do-" the buizel began before he noticed something still in the bottom of the messenger bag. He reached one orange furred hand in and pulled out a tiny bag, made of a small golden cloth. The bag itself was extremely light and warm to the touch. He silently held the bag infront of him eyes narrowed in concentration as something finally came to him.

XXXXX

 _It was warm here, a comfortable warmth like a hearth in winter or a summer campfire. He couldn't really see much being as he was sitting at what seemed to be the lip of a cave cradling a small golden bag in his paws. He almost dropped the bag when he heard a voice speak up behind him, the voice was female and seemed to be just as warm as the cave it was coming from though the Buizel made no move to turn around._

 _"Here you are!" the voice said mirthfully, laughing slightly. That laugh alone was enough to bring a smile to the Buizels face. Though that same smile faded moments later._

 _"Do we really have to do this?" the Buizel asked desperation apparent in his tone._

 _"If there was some other way i would." the voice said, it sounded...upset, maybe even scared, to the Buizels ears. The Buizel slowly sat down the bag, before bringing his paws to his face attempting to fight back tears. "Shh, shh, it's ok." she cooed softly attempting to sooth the poor Buizel. All the light seemed to vanish instantly as He felt himself covered in what appeared to be feathers._

 _"As long as you have my gift you'll always be safe." The voice began as the warmth of the feathers began to make the Buizel drowsy. "And one day, we'll be together again, my clear skies, my sweet child, Haru."_

XXXXX

"Haru! my names Haru!" He shouted jumping up onto his feet and knocking over Luna. The Poochyena just rolled onto her back and started laughing, Twizzler and Cream joining in seconds later.

"Ha i knew it'd work!" Luna howled with laughter righting her self, grin growing wider at Haru.

"That's great." Twizzler cheered, smiling herself the Piplup seemed just as happy as Luna to hear the Buizel's name.

"Well then, Haru it's a pleasure to meet you despite the circumstances." Cream spoke up thrusting one paw at the Buizel in a welcoming gesture. Haru took the Vulpix's paw and shook it gently. Cream turned to Twizzler, smoothly breaking the pawshake and nodding her head at the Pixicord still in the Piplup's hand. "You should give that back now." she said offhandedly.

Twizzler jumped in shock her feathers puffing out before she regained her senses. She turned to Haru and handed him the Pixicord, one flipper rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "Sorry i almost forgot i had it." The Piplup apologized to him as he took the gem back.

"That's alright, just caught in the moment was all." Haru chuckled, sliding the Pixicord, along with the smaller golden bag, back into the messenger bag. The Buizel stretched for a moment before grabbing the mint green hoody he had dropped earlier, dusting it off before putting it on.

"Looks good on you." Cream commented, the Vulpix whistling sharply, admiring the Buizel who was in the process of putting on the messenger bag as well. Haru stopped to a blush rising on his face, though it was hard to make out under his reddish orange fur.

"She's right." Luna said, turning away to hide her own blush. Haru's blush to deepened thankfully still hidden by his fur.

"Well we know your name now at least, maybe now we can-" Twizzler began before a loud rustling sound behind the group caught everyone's attention.

There was a whooshing rush of wind as three blurring shapes seemed to dash through the middle of the clearing at an incredible speed. Cream managed to roll out of the way while Haru pulled Luna backwards. Twizzler however was knocked over, the Piplup squeaking in surprise and indignation, as one of the blurs collided with her, the blur seemed to slow and trip reveling itself to be a small black and red fox, a Zorua, who effortlessly turned her stumble into a roll before scurrying after the other blurs.

"What on earth was that about?" Haru asked pulling Twizzler up. The Piplup dusted herself off before looking in the direction the zorua had run off too.

"I don't know, pretty sure the only thing in that direction is a Canna Lily field. Least till you hit a beach." Twizzler said, looking over to Cream who nodded in confirmation.

"Yeah I've been out that way, nothing but flowers." The Vulpix commented with an airy voice before simply shrugging.

"Thanks for um, pulling me back before we...er were trampled." Luna mumbled to Haru who smiled at the Poochyena.

"No probl-"

"HELP, STOP THEM!"

A fourth figure stumbled into the clearing, a dark blue feathered bird with red eyes, a Murkrow. The Murkrow made it a few more feet into the clearing before seemingly collapsing on the ground before Twizzler. When he caught sight of Twizzler and her friends the birds red eyes in hope.

"You have to help me!" the Murkrow begged, wings flapping erratically. "Those thieves stole my Pixicord!"

Luna and Haru were off before the Murkrow had even finished, the pair chasing after the thieves. Twizzler grabbed the Murkow lifting him into her arms as she and Cream struggled to catch up.

"T-thank you." the Murkrow mumbled breathlessly, going slack in Twizzlers flippers.

"Don't worry, we'll stop them." Twizzler reassured the Murkrow. "Just leave it to us Mr..."

"Trinket, my names Trinket." He said. All attempts at conversation ending as Twizzler tried to pick up speed to catch up with the others.

XXXXX

It seemed Cream had been right, the only thing in this direction was a rather beautiful field of flowers. Standing admist the remarkable red and orange blooms where the thieves they had all been chasing after. Haru recognized the sniggering form of the Zorua, tossing a small blue Pixicord between her paws, they had seen earlier sitting in the center of the trio but the two next to him were new. To the Zorua's left was a dark furred canine with with glowing blue rings on his ears, tail and legs, an Umbreon and a strangely colored one at that. Eyes hidden by a dark blue wide brimmed hat, one side of the brim pinned to the crown. the Umbreon threw his head back in a laugh revealing soft gently yellow eyes.

To the Zorua's right was a purple insect like pokemon almost completely obscured by it's clothing. Though Haru had a hard time telling what they were at first as he continued to look at her he realized it was a Butterfree. The Butterfree seemed to be wearing far more clothing than must have been comfortable, especially with as warm as this placed seemed to be. a Tattered red robe with some kind of dark green shirt and skirt under it, a bandanna that might have been the same color as his hoody, And some kind of headband made of dark cloth with a metal plate in the center, there was a symbol on the plate that had been scratched through but he couldn't make it out from this distance. The most worrying thing about her though was the sword at her hip, a small short blade with a rectangular guard. While most pokemon didn't carry weapons and the like, and why would you when on average most had claws or the like that were less likely to break or even something like the ability to breath fire, actually having one on your person tended to signify a certain predisposition towards fighting others.

It was the Butterfree that noticed them first. Her head tilted at a slight angle as she made eye contact with Haru. a stumpy blue hand rested on the hilt of her sword and gossamer wings trembled slightly. "Santi, company." Her voice came out, soft but blunt.

"Wonderful!" The Umbreon called out, he had an accent that Haru just couldn't place" his eyes lighting up at seeing them. He seemed to dance in place for a moment paws taping out a rhythm, one two, one two, as Haru and the others slowly entered the clearing. Twizzler sat down Trinket moving to stand in front of the Murkrow protectively.

"You're gonna give back Trinket's Pixicord you rotten thieves!" Twizzler bit out venomously glaring at the Umbreon. Cream and Luna stood next to her tensing and waiting for something to happen while Haru was content to observe the trio of thieves.

"Thieves?" The Umbreon called back, he looked as he had just swallowed something nasty before shaking his head. "No no, we are-" he began before pausing and turning to look at the Zorua "Jackie, music please." the Zorua nodded flashing a grin and suddenly out of nowhere music began to fill the clearing with the strumming of guitars. "Ah very much better." The Umbreon commented before turning back to Twizzler. "We are how you say, Treasure Hunters, si" He began nodding to the rhythm. "The great treasure hunters Santiago De La Rosa" He began to stalk forward a blue rose had appeared in his mouth, or had it always been there. "My amigos Jacqueline." He nodded at the Zorua, who waved at them, while the guitar began to swell. "And Shana." He nodded to the Butterfree this time. "And you are all sufficiently distracted i would say" Santiago finished tossing the rose which vanished in a cloud of blue petals.

There was a dull sound like steel scraping against wood and then Haru no longer had time to think as 12 inches of steel came zooming towards his face. He ducked under the blade before twisting to the side. Haru had just enough time to see his new friends scatter out of the way before Shana took another swing. He rolled backwards to avoid the blade. "Haha fantástico!" Haru heard the umbreon shouting over what was quickly becoming the din of battle.

Haru's mind was running as he ducked and dodged the Butterfree's almost lazy sword strokes, it seemed as if she weren't even trying and still he couldn't think of any way to fight back. The Buizel couldn't seem to remember any attacks.

" _Thunder Fang_!"

Haru turned to see Luna, mouth full of lighting, grab the Zorua by the scruff discharging all of the electricity before bodily throwing the dark type a good four feet. He turned back to his own problem just in time to remember why looking away from ones opponent is never a good idea as Shana slammed the hilt of he sword into the Buizel's gut staggering him.

The Butterfree struck Haru with the flat of the blade several times each time knocking the poor buizel back further and further before she stopped. Floating up on beautiful wings She reached out placing one blue paw inline with his head.

" _Shadow Ball_."

A swirling ball of dark purple energy coalesced in the Butterfree's hand at the exact moment it made contact with Haru's face causing a massive explosion that sent flower petals flying and knocking the Buizel low. Shana resheathed her sword, turning to walk away and rejoin the fight proper not even sparing Haru a glance.

" _Moon Blast_!"

" _Finta_."

" _Bubble_!"

From the sound of things the fight was still going strong, though Haru couldn't see any of it from his position on the ground. 'I have to keep that Butterfree focused on me.' Haru thought as he shakily stood back up. "Hey!" He shouted causing Shana to stop momentarily and tilt her head to look back at him. Haru gulped for air this had been a bad idea. "We aren't done here." He said trying to bring some semblance of calm back into his voice.

"Very well then." Shana droned reaching into her robe and removing a small trowel like bit of metal with a leaf shaped blade and a single ring on the pommel. She examined it casually for a moment before her paw became a blur and she chucked the kunai at Haru.

The blade was inches away from Haru and the Buizel acted completely on instinct without thought he twisted his body to avoid the the blade and reached out grasping it as it flew past. Kunai grasped in his paw Haru continued to twist until he had a clear shot at Shana returning the blade to the Butterfree who blocked it with her once again unsheathed blade, showing the first actual emotion Haru had seen from the Butterfree. Surprise.

Haru did the only thing he could think to press the advantage he'd gained. He rushed her, attempting to punch the Butterfree.

" _Silver wind_!"

Shana yelped before flapping her wings causing a silvery powder like gust to fly out and cut Haru.

The attack had hurt, but it didn't stop the Buziel who drove his palm into the Butterfree's face before kicking out with his leg knocking Shana backwards.

The Butterfree recovered quickly, using her large wings to stabilize herself before dashing backwards.

"Well, I'm certainly impressed." Shana mumbled out looking Haru in the eyes. The Butterfree pointed her blade at the Buizel. "But how long can you keep up."

" _Freeze-dry_!

 _" Bubble_!"

" _Finta_."

The fight was still going on around them but Haru only had his eyes on one thing, Shana. The Butterfree flew right at him, the very motion familiar too him, he'd already seen it earlier when the fight had started. He leaned past the blade then caught it in the crook of his arm, sharp blooms of pain erupted making Haru want to cry out, but he didn't have time to waste. The Buziel slammed the palm of his free hand into the blade which shook with a great crack, before shattering, the blade flying off out of sight.

Haru had just enough time to glimpse Shana's face after he'd broken her sword. The bug type was smiling serenely at him eyes half closed. 'She was enjoying this!' Haru thought. Shana's wings flapped gracefully creating a blade of air that slammed into Haru.

" _Air Slash_." Shana mumbled quietly as the Buizel fell over. She turned to leave again when something stopped her, eyes widened in panic.

" _Substitute_!"

A moment later and where the Butterfree had been standing was a small green dinosaur like doll with a kunai sticking out of it. Shana just stared in shock at the Buizel holding the kunai. He looked like a mess, left arm bleeding, bruised all over, a dozen smaller scratches. But here he was still standing, still fighting.

Haru felt awful, possibly worse than he had when he'd first woken up by far. His arm stung, he ached all over, but despite all of that he was well and truly enjoying this just as much as Shana seemed too. A smirk crossed the Buizel's face as he noticed a gleam of white slinking through the flowers towards Shana. He pointed the kunai at the Butterfree threateningly looking as if he was about to charge before.

" _Bite_."

Luna jumped onto Shana's back sinking her jaws into the exhausted Butterfree. Shana collapsed to the ground motionless with Luna standing over top of her, grinning viciously until she saw Haru.

"Jeez Haru, you look like someone took a sword too you." The Poochyena tried to joke.

"Feels like it, come on, gotta help the others." Haru said before grunting in pain.

Haru looked across the field to see how the battle was going. Flower petals were floating haphazardly through the air, some in stray bubbles that must have been from Twizzlers attacks. As for the piplup herself, she was standing a few feet behind Cream, breathing hard but looking otherwise fine. The same could not be said for the Vulpix, or the Zorua they had been fighting for that matter. Cream was collapsed on the ground staring up at Santiago defiantly, the Umbreon only a few feet away battered but still standing. the Zorua, Jacqueline, it seemed was knocked unconscious from Luna's Thunder Fang earlier on.

Santiago began to stalk forward towards the downed vulpix. "Well, you kids certainly were...whats the word." The Umbreon stopped a moment struggling to think of a word, ears twitching in annoyance. "Wonderful that's it," Santiago exclaimed happily. "As it is though, i need to be, how you say, ending this now." His paw rose to strike Cream, a dull purple glow overtaking it the higher it got.

" _Buena Baza_!"

Luna was too far away, Twizzler was too far away, Haru was panicking, there was nothing anyone could do. Then there was a flash and the Buizel began to remember.

XXXXX  
 _He wasn't in a cave this time, rather it appeared he was looking around a rocky outcropping trying to find someone._

 _"Haha, can't get me up here Haru!" A small blue bird, head covered in a plume of white feathers, called down to Haru who was standing underneath the flying Rufflet._

 _"Moonfeather, that's no fair how am supposed to catch you if you fly?" Haru squeaked, trying and failing to jump up to grab the Rufflet only to fall and land on the craggy ground. Another pokemon, a light grey bird with black markings, slowly swooped down alighting next to the small buizel._

 _"Moony giving you trouble again?" The Tranquil asked gently bumping Haru with her head._

 _"Ink!?" Haru jumped in surprise causing the Rufflet and Tranquil to laugh. After the shock had worn of and everyone had stopped laughing Haru answered the birds question. "Yeah, he's cheating, he knows i can't fly." Haru complained huffing at the Rufflet who merely rolled his eyes._

 _"Hmm, i can see how that'd be a problem." Ink made a show of scratching her chin with her wing, eyes narrowed at Moonfeather. "What if you used that trick you learned?"_

 _Haru's eyes lit up in excitement, the young Buizel wrapped his arms around the Tranquil in a hug that the bird returned easily, before turning to Moonfeather. The Rufflet looked apprehensive when an ethereal red baton seemed to form in the Buizels paw, with a quick snap Haru tossed the ghostly baton at Moonfeather._

 _"_ _Baton Pass_ _!"_

 _The baton flew through the air easily, it hit Moonfeather, who let out and indignant squawk, and then there was a burst of smoke. when the smoke cleared the two had seemingly switched places, putting Moonfeather on the ground, and leaving Haru in the air above him. The Buizel only had a few moments to remember he still couldn't fly, before he came crashing down on top of Moonfeather. Ink began to laugh at the sight, Haru and Moonfeather quickly joined her, all three laughing happily._

XXXXX

Luna was too far away, Twizzler was too far away. But Haru, Haru was a close as he needed to be. A ghostly red baton formed in the Buizel's paw, wasting no time he flung it at Cream.

 _"_ _Baton Pass_ _!"_

And switched places with the wounded Vulpix. Santiago's eyes widened in suprise as his glowing paw came down on the Buizel who thudded into the ground noiselessly as the dark energy passed through him.

"Well, good job amigos." The Umbreon chuckled slightly, closing his eyes and smiling wide. As three spikes of water rose from the ground around him.

" _Water Pledge_!"

Twizzler watched. flipper over her heart, as her attack slammed into Santiago, battering the Umbreon into the ground. It wasn't until she was sure that Santiago wasn't going to get back up that she quickly ran over to Haru. The Buizel opened his eyes face plastered with a wide grin when the Piplup stood over him. Twizzler couldn't help but smile in relief.

"You ok, Haru?" She asked concerned, he seemed ok but the Buizel looked like a mess.

"Feel like i fell out of the nest, I'll be ok, you?" Haru asked ignoring the look of confusion that momentarily crossed the Piplups face.

"Ne-? Never mind, I'm ok, i think we'll all be fine" Twizzler said seemingly distracted by Luna and Cream approaching followed by the Trinket, the Murkrow having come closer now that the battle was over.

"Found the stolen goods." Luna singsonged, bouncing the small blue gem on her head before giving it one good bounce sending the Pixicord flying towards Trinket who caught it. The Murkrow fumbled with it in his wings for a moment and the device actually turned on. Haru caught sight of what looked like four pokemon standing in front of a building, he couldn't make out anything from this angle. Before he could get a better look Trinket hurriedly turned the device of and placed it into a small tube that was barely visible attached to his leg.

"Thank you all so much." Trinket said smiling at all four of them in turn. "Here it's not much but take it." The Murkrow reached into the same tube he'd stuck the Pixicord in, pulling out a handful of small golden coins and handing them to Twizzler. Twizzler quickly passed the coins over to Cream who began to quietly count them.

"Is there someone we should tell about these guys?" Haru asked having found the strength to stand back up.

"Nah, you guys are fine, I'll take care of that," Trinket said glancing at the trio of unconscious thieves "Something tells me these guys won't be getting up again." The Murkrow laughed at what must have been some private joke.

"Alright then, if you're sure." Twizzler said nodding her head at the Murkrow. "Come one guys lets go"

XXXXX

Despite being banged up everyone seemed to be doing ok, though Haru was limping slightly, as they wandered through the woods. The sun was starting to lower in the sky, it'd be dark soon. Everyone seemed pretty relaxed after all the excitement earlier.

"So how much did we get from that?" Twizzler asked glancing over at Cream.

"240 Poké, which puts us much closer to our goal." Cream answered glibly, a wide smile overtaking the vulpix.

"Goal?" Haru asked confused. He didn't know what they were talking about, though thinking on it he thought they might have mentioned it earlier.

It was Luna that answered the Buizel, seemingly reciting the words from memory. "Twizzler has a plan, we're gonna raise the money to leave Hopeberry Island." Luna closed her eyes grinning at the thought. "We plan to sign on with a Treasure hunting guild, See Twiz is friends with one of the members who flies over here sometimes, and that'll let us get set up off the island so we can start following our dreams."

Haru thought quietly about that. honestly he liked the sound of that, and it'd be something to do too.

"That sounds like a good plan, room for one more?" Haru asked hopefully. He didn't think they'd say no, but he wasn't about to butt in if they didn't want him there. Twizzler began to laugh lightly.

"Told ya he'd want in." She said waving a flipper dismissively. "Of course you can help, you already have haven't you." Cream and Luna began to nod enthusiastically.

Haru's grin threatened to swallow his face at this declaration.

"So uh, it's getting pretty late. How are we gonna handle this?" Twizzler asked, examining the sun as it slowly began to set in the distance.

Cream began to wave a paw in the air in n almost haphazard fashion. "Don't worry I've got that all figured out." The vulpix turned to look at Luna who was watching the sunset with an almost eager glint. "You'd better get running Luna, i don't want Corbeau causing problems cause you were late again."

The Poochyena's face fell into a frown quickly. "You're right, not a good time for that." With that Luna sagged almost defeated before shuffling off through the trees.

"If you have everything handled, I'd better get going too, I'll see you both tomorrow i hope." Twizzler called out as she too left through the trees.

"Alright come on this way." Cream said, thumping Haru with her nose trying to get the Buizel to follow her.

XXXXX

They had emerged at a beach, the sun had fully set and the moon was out. The sand seemed to shimmer in the moonlight as waves gently lapped against it a gentle salt breeze blew against the pair. The beach itself was beautiful, though Haru didn't have much to compare it too besides the flower field he'd seen earlier.

"Alright, you stay here I'll be back in a few minutes, we'll be staying out here but i need to get somethings." Cream nodded absentmindedly at the Buizel. "See about rounding up some branches for firewood."

"We?" Haru questioned.

"Well i wasn't about to leave you out here alone" Cream laughed. "Now really, i'll be right back."

She really wasn't gone that long, all told it had been maybe forty minutes, enough time for Haru to collect a sizable amount of wood, before the Vulpix came trundling along. She had what appeared to be two boxes, one carried on her back, and a smaller one she carried in her mouth by a strap. She sat down the box she held in her mouth before carefully sliding the one on her back off with little issue.

"Alright help me set this up." Cream said. Dragging what looked like a tent out of the larger box. The pair quickly went about setting up the tent, it was a large green thing. Rather plain but it looked like it could house a pokemon the size of a Ninetails comfortably, with how small the pair were they'd have no trouble fitting inside it. Cream then gathered up all of Haru's firewood to start a fire.

"Alright that should hold us." Cream said as the fire started to grow. "Now hoody off, toss it here." The Vulpix ordered grabbing the smaller box she had brought.

"W-what?" Haru stammered, confusion evident on his face.

"It's cut up and I'm gonna fix it." Cream responded opening the box to reveal a small sewing kit.

"O-oh" Haru stumbled over his words as he handed the hoody over to the insistent Vulpix.

"Hmm, so you remember anything else today?" Cream asked, trying to make conversation as she set needle to thread.

"yeah, when we were fighting." Haru said, humming a bit as he stoked the fire. "A pokemon actually, a Rufflet named Moonfeather."

"mhm, don recoize te nam." Cream mumbled through a mouthful of thread.

"I don't think we lived anywhere near here" Haru sighed. The Buizel began to poke the fire with a stick causing embers to fly gently into the air.

"Bah, thread tastes awful." The Vulpix spat out the string that had been in her mouth. "There done." Cream commented passing the repaired clothing back. "I'm sure things will work out, and hey i owe you one, so if it comes down to it i'll help you look ok." The Vulpix smiled at Haru, it was a warm smile, as bright as the fire they were sitting by.

"Thanks Cream" Haru said returning the Vulpix's smile.

A few minutes went by in peaceful silence the only sounds the crackling of the fire and the crash of the waves. Though soon a new sound would join in, the rumbling of stomachs.

"Oh crabapples, i didn't think to grab any food!" Cream cried out. Flopping onto the despondently. "Sorry, Haru."

"That's ok, I'm not that hungry." Haru lied. His stomach grumbled loudly in protest. "Ok i am, any ideas?"

"Well you could always ask." A husky voice Haru didn't recognise spoke up from the other side of the fire.

Both pokemon jumped in fright at the sound. Sitting on the otherside was a large pokemon, yellow furred with a white belly, a red orb on their head glowed faintly in the moonlight. One stubby arm was curled around what appeared to be a staff made of brass, topped with a circle that had a chain of 5 trianguler links dangling from it. The other arm reached slowly into a bag filled with what looked like apples.

"Here, sorry to frighten ya." The Ampharos said tossing an apple to the pair. followed by two pointy sticks. "Stick em on there and hold em over the fire." She said before doing the same with one of her own.

"Who are you?" Cream asked as the pair followed the eletric pokemon's instrtuctions.

"Call me Niko, i'm a priestess, was passing by and saw your fire, thought i'd see about getting in on that." Niko replied casually before pulling out her apple and taking a bite.

"A priestess?" Haru questioned. Something about this Ampharos worried Haru, she felt...off somehow.

"What don't belive me?" Niko said questioningly. "Should i wear the hat, i have a hat that comes with the job." She joked with an air of mock exasperation.

"You don't need the hat" Cream said chuckling slightly at Niko.

"Good, i look stupid in the hat." Niko said before bursting out into proper laughter.

The Ampharos's laughter was infectious and soon Haru and Cream had joined her. The trio finished eating in pleasent company and before long the fire began to die.

"we'll it's be a pleasent meal." Niko said. Standing up from where she had been seated she passed her staff from one paw to the other causing the chain to ring against the staff creating a sweet melodical sound. "but i must be off, places to be." She said as she began to wander off into the darkness. "Blessings be, Haru, mayhap we'll meet later."

"well, I think i'll be turning in, Haru, how about you?" Cream yawned making her way to the tent.

"Yeah, i'll be right there." Haru called after her still watching the spot where Niko had vanished into the woods.


	2. Chapter 2: Cream

_Author note: So what do people normally put here besides the regular disclaimer? Ah well, here's Chapter 2 anyways, please leave a review if you liked it._

XXXXX

Cream was surprised to wake up to almost silence. The only sound she could hear was the light breathing of Haru. The Buizel was curled up into a ball, head tucked in between his twin tails. This was a far cry from her normal mornings, waking to the sound of nearly a half dozen rowdy Eevee's every day. The Vulpix endeavored to enjoy the quiet a little longer before waking up Haru.

She wouldn't wait long before the Buizel rose up in a daze.

"Mornin." Haru mumbled idly rubbing his face with one paw.

"Morning." Cream replied yawning as she got up to leave the tent. "I'm gonna show you around town to day, we never got a chance yesterday." She continued. Gripping the tent's zipper in her mouth she pulled.

"That sounds like a good idea." Haru mumbled. The Buizel sounded half asleep still. As the pair exited the tent into their makeshift campsite Haru nearly stumbled over something sitting just by the firepit. A small wooden box, bigger than the sewing kit Cream had borrowed from her mother the night before. There was a card sitting on top of the box covered in some flowery patterns.

Haru grabbed the card and began to read it. "To the Buizel, you impressed me greatly. Take these, when we meet again i wish to see how strong you've become." Haru read off.

"Who could have left this?" Cream asked. The box worried her, there weren't alot of people that Haru could have 'Impressed' lately and she dreaded the obvious answer.

"Could have ben the Amphros from last night." Haru said idly before reaching for the latch on the front. "I'm opening it."

"Careful." Haru murmured.

The box opened with a click and Haru stepped back startled. "It's not from the Ampharos." He whispered. Cream rushed over to see what was in the box.

Sitting inside the box were several tools. Nearly a dozen kunai, there leaf shaped blades glimmering with a polished shine. an even larger amount of star shaped rings of metal with a razor sharp edge, shuriken. Mixed in a large pile were also several long thin spike like darts, some of the were a dark bluish steel and others gleamed like silver, Cream recognized them as iron thorns and silverspikes. The vulpix had seen the type before, she had even sold some once.

"There's a couple hundred Poké worth of tools here." Cream commented. It was obvious that the pair were in shock at what was sitting in front of them. Haru pulled out one of the kunai and began to balance it in his paw before throwing it at a near by tree a couple feet away. The blade slammed home with a dull thud embedding itself into the tree.

"Had to be that Butterfree, i'm not sure how to feel about this." Haru sighed. "Do we trust this, at all?" He asked.

Cream thought for a moment. "If it was a trap i think it'd have gone off by now." She said.

"Alright then." The Buizel shrugged. Haru pulled out a handful of silver spikes, placing them in a small side pocket on his messenger bag before pulling the kunai out of the tree and sliding it into the pocket of his hoodie. "Well, you were going to show me around right?" Haru asked as he was placing the box of throwing implements inside the tent.

"Yeah, lets go." Cream chirped picking up the sewing kit she had left out the night before.

XXXXX

The pair had been wandering slowly down the shore, Cream leading the way. as the traveled Cream glanced back to see Haru staring intently at the water. The Buizel hadn't taken his eyes off of it since they had started walking.

"There something in the water?" Cream asked jokingly. Haru flinched before looking away from the water to her.

"N-no, it's just." The Buizel suddenly got really quiet. "I think this is the first time I've ever actually seen the ocean." He whispered, the wonder in his voice was obvious to anyone listening.

The Buizel looked so happy, a bright smile plastered on his face. It made Cream want to join in his happiness. The white Vulpix rolled her eyes as Haru stopped to watch the waves crash endlessly.

"Alright hand over your stuff and jump in." Cream laughed. Haru looked like he'd just been informed he'd been named king of the island.

"Really?" He questioned eyes shining with hope. Cream nodded her head and the Buizel wasted no time passing all of his things over and jumping into the water with a splash and disappearing underneath.

The bright yellow collar around Haru's neck, a Buizel's flotation sac, inflated quickly as he popped his head back above water. He floated there as the waves gently bobbed him up and down.

"This feels wonderful!" Haru called out happily. He began to splash around in the waves causing Cream to laugh at his antics.

"You really haven't been in the ocean before have you?" Cream asked. something about that thought made the Vulpix incredibly sad, like the Buizel had missed out on something that should have intrinsically been a part of him.

"I mean, maybe." Haru contemplated. finally the Buizel had had his fill and climbed out of the water. Shaking off the water he continued "But this feels like something i've never done before."

Cream shielded herself from the spray of water with Haru's hoodie. "You'll have to do this some more before we leave then."

"Yeah, yeah i think i will." He smiled brightly.

XXXXX

When they reached town Haru looked delighted. While the town looked the same to Cream, same old over water bungalows and cabanas she was used to, thatched roofs and brightly colored curtains down up in blues. Dozens of pokemon milling about, some obviously tourists seeing the sights, others trying to hock goods like a bunch of amateurs with no negotiation skills.

"Take it all in twintails, this is home." Cream ribbed thumping the Buizel with her paw. "Until we get out of here."

"It's so exciting, it's like a festival, i think." Haru laughed. The Buizel was obviously enjoying himself. Honestly that comforted Cream a bit.

"It's always like that here." Cream joined in. The Ice Vulpix began to scan the crowd, she wasn't sure if the pokemon she was looking for would actually be here. Then she spotted them. a pair of Eevee's standing by a bit of pier railing looking off into the water. One of them, the smaller of the two was wearing a pair of green rimmed glasses, the other much bigger Eevee wore a necklace that held a bright blue stone like crystal with a darker blue teardrop shape inside of it. The pair were two of Cream's brothers.

"Biscuit, Chip!" Cream called out to the pair. the younger Eevee's ears flicked at hearing their names and tapped his brother to get his attention pointing him to where Cream and Haru were standing. Both Eevee's quickly bounded over to the pair wrapping themselves around Cream in a hug.

Chip broke the hug first, the older Eevee backing away slightly causing Biscuit to snuggle further into the Vulpix.

"Everything alright at home?" Cream asked. She tried to disentangle herself from the younger Eevee to no avail.

"Wafer is still being a little brat, and Sugar was in tears because she thought you'd already left without saying goodbye." Chip mentioned idly before glancing at Haru. "This the Buizel you mentioned?" He asked.

"Oh man, i didn't even think about Sugar, I'm sorry you had to deal with that." Cream apologized profusely. "Oh yeah, this is Haru." She added, stepping out of the way as best she could with a whole 10lbs of Eevee attached to her. The Buizel waved enthusiastically at her brother.

"He looks a little skinny." Chip commented casually. "Have you guys eaten yet?" He asked.

"Haru, these are my brothers, the one who won't let go is Biscuit, he's my assistant when i need one." Cream said, the Eevee finally letting go of her. "And the one offering food is Chip, and no we haven't and oh boy I'm starving." She answered.

"Alrighty, I have to get to work soon anyways so follow me when you're ready, you know the place." Chip said as he sauntered off into the crowd.

Cream turned to Biscuit who had been sitting patiently by her side. "Biscuit, can you do your sister a huge favor?" Cream asked.

"Sure! What is it?" The Eevee hoped up excitedly. He was bouncing in place on his paws looking at his sister expectantly.

Cream passed over the sewing kit to Biscuit who balanced it easily on his back despite his bouncing. "Can you take this home and put it back in my room?" Cream asked.

"Of course, right away, love ya sis." Biscuit called out happily before he too disappeared into the crowd.

"Right, well you hungry?"

XXXXX

The place Cream had led them was the restaurant Chip had been working at. A sizeable place with a solid slate floor. Dozens of tables most of them filled with pokemon just having a good time. Most of them just tourists. though Cream recognized a few, like the Oshawott wearing the dark blue tabard covered in red patterns from the temple sitting by herself in a corner. The same Ampharos they had met last night, who nodded politely raising a glass in her direction before downing it's contents and returning to her own meal. But most importantly, sitting at a table by a window was Twizzler.

The Piplup eagerly waved the pair over and when they sat down started a conversation immediately. "I ran into Chip earlier and he said you were on your way here, so figured i'd meet you here." The Piplup said leaning back in her seat. "I already ordered so the food should be here soon." She said. those words alone drove an arrow of dread through Creams heart. Whatever they were about to eat, it would probably be far to sweet. Haru had no reaction to this news besides thanking the Piplup. "The poor fool." Cream thought.

It was barely moments later when Chip came sliding in, the Eevee was wearing roller skates on his paws and expertly balancing a try laden with with what looked like dumplings and riceballs of some kind on his head with a surprising amount of success. "Here ya go." The Eevee gave his sister a knowing grimace, one that seemed to say I tried, as he slid the tray gently onto the table infront of them. With a nod Chip slid off gliding easily away.

The trio began eating and much to Creams relief, the food was edible. Or atleast the riceballs had were filled with peanut butter and Haru seemed to love them. The dumplings on the other hand...only Twizzler ate any of them they were filled with some increadbily sweet fruit that had gagged Cream when she tried it and Haru had been to busy eating riceballs to even try one. All in all Cream would consider this one of the better times Twizzler had somehow managed to order for everyone.

"So, i'm showing Haru around town today. you wanna come with?" Cream asked through a mouthful of riceball.

"Sure, we should get Luna first." Twizzler replied biting into another of her far to sweet dumplings. Haru attempted to say something but Cream couldn't understand him through a mouth full of peanut butter, and if she had to guess neither could Twizzler.

"I agree with Haru, lets get her after we finish eating." Cream said a wide grin on her face. Just because she hadn't actually understood what he had said didn't mean she wasn't going to pretend she did.

A little while later Chip glided back over to their table. The Eevee was carrying another tray, this one much smaller than before, holding a small slice of cake covered in blue frosting. Chip placed the tray in front of Twizzler who thanked him before digging in.

"I'll see you later today right?" Chip asked. The Eevee slowly spun in place for a moment waiting for Creams answer.

"Yeah, of course." Cream said. Chip smiled before rolling away from the trio. "Alright lets go get Luna."

XXXXX

The three had been sitting in front of Luna's house, a building that could only be described as a miniature manor house. for the better part of ten minutes. Cream and Twizzler having a silent argument of over who would knock on the door. Before they could actually decide who would do it the door creaked open ominously and a pair of red eyes leered out of the darkness. Cream could barely make out who was standing in the door way, it didn't frighten her any less. Luna's brother, Corbeau, was a shiny Furfrou all shaggy black fur and red eyes. The canine gave off an aura that just absolutely terrified her, and possibly everyone else on the island who wasn't named Luna.

Corbeau's head disappeared behind the door and the Furfrou called out. "Luna your friends are here." The way he said friends, dripping with venom, reminded Cream of what the Furfrou actually thought of them. Corbeau disappeared down the hall leaving the door wide open. Only to be quickly replaced by the smiling form of Luna. The Poochyena rushed outside quickly closing the door behind her and breathing a sigh of relief.

"Well, i can safely say Luna's brother scares me." Haru mumbled. The Buizel shivered slightly before turning his attention to Luna.

"Yeah, he gets that alot." Luna said cheerily as she marched up the road before turning back to her friends. "Are you coming?"

Cream rushed to catch up with the Poochyena followed by Haru and Twizzler and the quartet walked slowly back down the path into town proper. It wasn't long before they reached the bustle of the main road. A multitude of pokemon moved to get around the group before they stopped off to the side of the road.

"So where should we go?" Luna asked. The poochyena seemed to bounce in place slightly, grey fur ruffling as she moved.

"Well we've already shown Haru where Chip works, so eating is out." Twizzler contemplated. She began to stroke her chin with a flipper. Cream couldn't quite tell what the Piplup was thinking. Haru of course wouldn't have any ideas having never been here before, the Buizel watched the others expectantly a content smile on his face.

"We could just go through town square, see where we end up?" Cream finally chimed in when it seemed no one else had any ideas. Twizzler nodded her head slowly.

"That sounds like a good plan, lets go." Twizzler nodded her head slowly. The four of them continued their leisurely stroll down the road again. Cream didn't pay much mind to the other pokemon passing them by until she heard a somewhat familiar sound, the melody of ring glancing against chain. Through the crowd she caught sight of source, the staff being held by an Ampharos. The electric types tail swayed gently as she meandered past them eyes closed. "Niko, that was her name." Cream thought as the Ampharos in question passed them without even sparing the group a glance.

Distracted as she was Cream didn't notice until it was to late that she was about to collide with an Eevee wearing a sky blue bow that was similarly distracted. The pair crashed into each other with a dull thud sending both to the ground. Cream's friends and a Riolu, wearing a bag that looked alot like Haru's, that seemed to be with the Eevee all cried out in alarm.

"Sorry about that." The Eevee said standing back up quickly and holding out a paw to help Cream up. The Riolu let out a sigh of relief before shaking his head good stifling a laugh.

Cream took the offered paw without any complaint getting back up and reassuring her friends quickly before turing back to the Eevee. "Sorry, sorry, i should really watch where I'm going." She apologized.

The Eevee responded with a wide cheerful grin. "Not a problem at all." The Eevee began to laugh lightly. "I tend to forget where i am most of the time anyways." She took a minute to fix her bow, it must have been jostled in the crash. "So, since we already said hello in the most physical way possible, how about some proper introductions." She joked casually. "My name's Tika, and this is my partner Gabu." Tika said pointing at the Riolu who flourished into a slight bow at his introduction.

"I'm Cream, these are my friends." Cream nudged everyone to introduce themselves.

"Twizzler."

"luna."

"And I'm Haru." The Buizel finished out the round of introductions.

"A pleasure to meet you all." Tika said. The Eevee's smile almost threatened to engulf her face. "Gabu and I are just traveling around a bit, sort of a holiday, mission, type thing." She continued to say. The Riolu's face lit up at some realization.

"Oh, you might actually be able to help us." Gabu said excitedly. Tika's ears perked up twitching slightly as the Riolu began to shuffle through his bag before pulling out what looked like an incredibly old photograph.

Gabu shuffled forward and handed Cream the photo. The picture itself seemed very old, it had an almost yellow tint to it. She could see what looked like a pair of Riolu, much younger than the one infront of her, sitting in a nest with an egg between them. Both Riolu were sitting in such a way as to prominently display the egg.

"I'm looking for the Riolu sitting on the left, he's my brother." Gabu said. He seemed hopeful. Cream didn't want to shatter the Riolu's hopes but...

"Sorry, i don't think you're likely to find him her." Luna said. Cream let out a breath she didn't know she was holding as the Poochyena answered instead. "Pretty sure the only other Riolu on the island is a girl." She continued.

Gabu took back the photo with a sad smile. "I wasn't expecting much, thanks anyways though." It didn't take long for the cheer to return to the Riolu as he turned to his companion. "Well, we can still stay a few days. Enjoy the island yeah?"

Tika nodded enthusiastically. "We gotta. I haven't even went swimming yet!" She said excitedly. "Well it was nice meeting you." The Eevee grabbed Gabu by the paw and pulled him down the road a bit. Twizzler and Haru waved goodbye at the retreating pair. Cream smiled as the Eevee began to sing something in the distance. While the only word Cream could make out before the pair passed out of view was "Smiles." Whatever Tika had said was enough to cheer up the Riolu who was shaking with laughter as they left.

"Well they're a lively bunch." Luna said as the four of them started walking again.

"They seemed nice." Twizzler commented helpfully.

"I hope they find who they're looking for." Haru said. A contemplative look crossed the Buizels face. "Maybe, when we leave the island we can keep an eye out."

"Not a bad idea, not a bad idea at all." Cream replied.

XXXXX

Cream wasn't honestly sure how she got roped into these things. Haru thought it sounded fun she guessed. She had been standing here in between Twizzler and Haru, Luna on the Buizels other side, for nearly half an hour while a Smeargle used his tail to put paint to canvas and draw the group on the docks. She was surprised Luna could sit still long enough for Danny, She recognized the Smeargle from around town, to paint the four of them. Usually the Poochyena was incapable of anything but constant movement.

"Hold on just a bit longer." Danny murmured casually from behind the canvas. One eye closed as he dabbed at It with his tail. "Should be finished soon."

Cream tried to focus on anything else but what she was doing. Not much was happening on the docks. A Zigzagoon and a Snivy arguing in hushed tones over what looked like a crate of tomatoes, a trio of Abra sleeping on a bench. She even caught sight of a Meowth she recgonized, Mina, selling rings to what looked like a Crocnaw and a Spritzee. She couldn't hear the conversation from where she was at but she couldn't miss the rather large water type handing Mina a few coins before sliding a ring over one of his claws. It was hard to make out but the ring quickly changed from a solid object to a liquid that splash onto the docks, A look of shock crossed the Crocnaws face before he burst into laughter. He Slapped Mina on the back good naturedly causing the Meowth to stumble before walking away with the Spritzee.

"And done." Danny said stepping away and spinning the canvas towards them. The painting really was pretty good, all done in soft pastel colors depicting the four of them standing by the railing waves swaying in the background. They all looked happy, despite Creams misgivings it turned out fine. Haru stared at the painting in awe, it was hard to remember he wouldn't have seen stuff like this before, or at least remember if he had.

"Looks great, can you send it up to my place later?" Twizzler asked.

Seeing the confused look on Haru's face, Luna leaned in and whispered. "Twizzler is holding onto everything we're taking with us when we leave the island." The Buizels look of confusion changed to one of understanding rather quickly as Danny nodded to Twizzler.

"yeah sure, no problem." The Smeargle said. "Last one i was doing today anyways, now where-" Danny began to look around expectantly before catching sight of a Stantler, horns aglow, levitating some cotton candy. "Ah there she is, over here." He waved to the Stantler as Cream and her friends wandered off.

"My eye's must deceive me, all three pretty ladies standing before me, and they even brought a friend." Someone joked from off to the side. Cream recognized the voice, turning to see Nelly. The Brionne was looking over at them, his face full of mirth leaning with his back to rails.

"Nelly, what's up?" Twizzler asked waving at the relaxed Brionne.

"Oh not much, a couple of tourists payed Ally to loop them around the island so i'm just waiting for him to get back." Nelly said making a show to check his wrist for a watch he didn't have.

"It's actually really good that we ran into you Nells." Luna spoke up from behind Twizzler.

"Oh, did you finally get enough money for me to whisk you lovelies away from here?" the Brionne asked, Cream noticed the eager glint in his eye.

"Not quite, we need to know how much it would be for four instead of three." Twizzler answered for the Poochyena.

"Well...give me a second to think." Nelly said eagerly before he began to mutter under his breath quietly, it was hard to hear what the Brionne was saying though it all sounded like some simple math. After he was finished he gave Twizzler the answer.

"four all four of you lovelies, assuming you meant you Buizel there, it should be about 500 Poké." Nelly said cheerfully. Cream smiled, she didn't think that was too bad, they were only 100 Poké short.

Nelly became very excited for a moment before moving past the group. "Sorry lovelies, that'll be Ally over there. I need to be going." He said before he slid under the railing on the other side hitting the water with a resounding splash. Cream watched him swim out to meet a Lapras in the open waters carrying a Marowak and a Jolteon.

"So who was that?" Haru asked and for a moment Cream felt bad for forgetting to introduce him properly.

"That was Nelly Bree, him and his friend Alucard run tours of the island as well as boat people here and back to the mainland." Twizzler explained.

"Oh, cool. so you have this whole leaving the island thing planned out don't ya." Haru said. The Buizel seemed genuinely enthused at the amount of planning Twizzler had put into things.

"Oh yeah! i know exactly what i'm doing." Twizzler cheered raising one flipper into the air.

"Oh no it's going to her head, there'll be no living with her now." Luna joked lightly bumping the Piplup with her nose. The cold and wet sensation caused Twizzler to jump in surprise letting out a tiny squawk. Luna began to laugh at her reaction and was quickly joined by Cream and Haru.

XXXXX

After hours of walking around town the Sun was hanging low in the air. Luna had decided the group should get something to eat so the four of them found themselves back at restaurant from this morning. Though Chip had went home by now the Dedenne that had served them instead was doing a fine job, when she managed to stop flirting with an oblivious Haru long enough to take their order.

They were about half way through a pot of some type of curry that both Cream and Haru had taken to almost instantly and Twizzler had barely touched when a familiar face sat down at their table. It was the Eevee from before, Tika, though it seemed she was alone this time. She was carrying something in her mouth which she quickly sat on the table. It looked like some kind of rolled up scroll to Cream though she was more interested in what the Eevee was doing here.

"hello, hello, hello." Tika said leaning forward conspiratorially in the chair she had taken. Her eyes darted back and forth casually checking for anyone listening. The restaurant was actually mostly empty now, there had been a bigger party in earlier meeting with a Houndoom but they had left as Cream and her friends had entered the restaurant.

"So i heard some interesting things around town." The Eevee singsonged a bit before stopping a frown crossing her face. "Well, not around town. i heard it here, at lunch specifically." Tika said brightening up immediately. The shear manic energy of this Eevee was something else, Cream was starting to get the usual headache she had at home.

"What did you hear?" Twizzler asked cautiously. Cream could tell the Piplup was on edge but if Tika had noticed it the Eevee hadn't shown it.

"That a certain white furred Vulpix and her friends wanted to be treasure hunters." Tika said casually grabbing the Piplup uneaten bowl of curry and trying some. "Mhmm, this is good." She murmured.

Twizzler visibly relaxed at this declaration and didn't even protest Tika taking her bowl. "y-yeah we are." She said.

"Well then boy howdy do i have something for the four of you." The Eevee's cheshire grin had returned as she rolled the scrap of parchment over the tabletop. The parchment came to a stop by Haru who picked it up carefully.

"What is it?" Luna asked trying to get a good look at the parchment in the Buizels hand.

"A map, a treasure map." Tika called everyone's attention back to herself. "Specifically to a spot somewhere on this island. I bought it earlier, it's very real." She circled one paw in the air halfheartedly, her wagging tail showing how she really felt.

"How can you be sure of that?" Cream asked.

"Experience." Tika said a hint of steel in her voice. For a moment the Eevee's grin had become absolutely vicious before returning to normal. "The pokemon selling it didn't even know what they had."

"We can't just take this from you." Twizzler said. Haru and Luna nodded their affirmation.

"I was afraid you'd say that." Tika sighed her grin becoming a frown. The Eevee tapped her paw on the table and continued eating. "So what if i hired you to do it?" She asked.

A feeling of pure glee shot through Cream at those words. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"Simple, i'll pay you...what..." Tika sat back and began to think." "Gabu's better at this math stuff then me hold on. Ok so an E rank mission would come out as 100 Poké, and i don't actually want any of the treasure." She slammed her paw down on the table. "Got it, 100 Poké, to show me any treasure you find in...i belive the map called it Hollow Ruins, and you'll get to keep any treasure you find. As well as possible additional payment upon completion."

Cream actually liked the sound of that deal. and from the glance between the four of them, the others agreed with her. "W-we accept." Cream said shakily.

"Wonderful, i believe you should set out tomorrow morning, it's already rather late." Tika said. She pushed away the bowl having finally finished the curry. "If you need to find me, we're staying at the..what was it Blue Candle, that nice little inn by the water. Oh and i'll pay for dinner." She said, her smile once again threatening to swallow her whole.


	3. Chapter 3: Luna

Well, here we go chapter three, please tell me what you think.

XXXXX

While Luna hadn't slept well the night before. Between her brother's suddenly sullen mood, more so than usual almost, and the excitement of what would be their first official treasure hunt, with a client and everything. The Poochyena had found herself full of the same manic energy that usually caused her to tap her paws and shake around to an invisible rhythm.

That of course, was why she'd grabbed her bag and slipped out of the house, which Corbeau insisted was called a Chateau. Without her brother noticing, or at least she hoped she had, cutting a mad dash through the woods in an attempt to burn off some of that excess energy.

It was a couple hours before any of her friends would possibly be awake. "Except maybe Haru," she thought to herself. She hadn't known the Buizel long enough to pick up his sleeping habits. Though even if he was awake that knowledge wouldn't help her, she didn't even know where he was camping after all.

Thus without much option Luna splayed out on a fallen log to wait for the rising sun, stretching out to her full length with a yawn. Before she could get well and truly comfortable there was a sound. Like the crack of thunder, it was something stepping on a twig in the underbrush. Luna's ears swiveled attempting to find the source of the noise.

It was too dark to easily make anything out and the sound seemed to bounce between the trees. Slowly Luna began to build up electricity in her maw, the beginnings of a Thunder Fang, in an effort to both shed some light and to ward off any would be attackers.

"Hold on now," a gentle, husky sounding voice called out from the darkness. "I'm harmless, see look." A spot slightly to the left of Luna began to light up with a quick flash that momentarily blinded the poor Poochyena.

"Sorry, sorry. Didn't mean to frighten you." When the spots cleared from the Poochyena's eyes she got a good look at the source of the light. An Ampharos was standing a ways away, a brass ring topped staff cradled in one arm, the other reaching lazily into a bag dangling at her side. The red orb on the end of the Ampharos's tail was the source of the light that was now filling the clearing.

"Didn't think anyone would be out here this early," The Ampharos commented. Luna released the charge that'd be building in her mouth, the fur on her face tingling as the energy dissipated.

"Not a lot of people would be," Luna said before resting back on the log. Whoever this pokemon was probably didn't mean to bother her. "So what are you doing out here?"

"Just exploring the island," The Ampharos laughed gently before plopping down beside the log. "This place is really beautiful."

"Yeah, it is," Luna sighed. The Ampharos was right of course. But when you've spent almost your whole life, or at least what you can remember of it, stuck in one little spot you tend to forget things like that. As eager as they were to leave Hopeberry island, Luna could still see the Wonder of the place. Even more so with Haru around, the Buizel reacted to everything he saw with an exuberant curiosity.

There was a sound of rustling as the Ampharos pulled something out of her bag, a small greenish yellow orb that she halfheartedly tossed over to Luna. Luna fumbled with the object for moment before getting a good grip on what had turned out to be an apple. She actually recognized it as a "pomme sucrée," her brother was constantly trying to buy them, but given the distance of Hopeberry from Chaton, where they were grown, it didn't happen very often.

"Where did you get-" Luna started to ask before the Ampharos interrupted her.

"Bought them before coming to Hopeberry," She said. She reached back into her back pulling out another of the greenish yellow apples and taking a bite out of it. "Me and my brother used to eat these all the time." The Ampharos sighed holding the apple she's bitten into out in front of her examining it closely. "There was a tree out in our yard that grew them, when they ripened we'd go out and pluck them off the tree, and he'd just grin the whole time, it was one of the few things that could get him to smile." The Ampharos continued to reminisce while Luna started eating her apple. The apple itself was as sweet as she remembered them being. Twizzler would probably like them a lot actually, Luna thought. "Do you have any siblings?" She asked tiltiing her head back to look at Luna.

The question caught Luna off guard. She hadn't expected the Ampharos to ask her any questions, though it only seemed fair to answer if she was willing to share as much as she was.

"yeah, my older brother, Corbeau." Luna began to think about her brother, if he found out she'd come out here this early he'd probably be upset. Not upset enough to actually try to stop her, but the Furfrou was always being over protective of her. "Who's probably waking up and realizing I'm not home." Luna sighed in realization. The Ampharos just laughed, just the sound of it almost made Luna want to join in.

"I'm sure he won't mind to terribly," The Ampharos chuckled lightly before standing up. "As it stands though, I'd best be on my way, I enjoyed talking with you Luna." She vanished from Luna's sight rather quickly not even the light from her tail remained after a moment.

Luna was about to shrug off the encounter and leave before she noticed something, sitting on the ground where her companion had been sitting was a small blue orb. She picked it up and was about to return it to the Ampharos, whose name she hadn't even gotten, when she realized it was too late for that. She sat back down and examined the orb itself. She didn't actually know what kind it was, Cream would be able to tell her later she assumed, but she really had no other choice but to hold onto it.

XXXXX

Later, after the sun had fully risen, Luna met up with the others. The four of them were sitting around a table eating breakfast. Well Luna and Haru where, Twizzler and Cream barely pecked at there food as they were going over the map.

Haru was focused on eating some kind of pancake made from millet flour and covered in oran berry syrup. The Buizel became incredibly excited when he found out they had them here and ordered them immediately. Cream seemed to find the whole thing adorable though she had long since stopped paying attention to anything but Twizzler and the map. Luna's own food, Some contraption made of granola and peanut butter that Chip had wanted her to try, hadn't lasted all that long after arriving. Luna pushed the finished plate away and turned to Cream and Twizzler.

"So have you about figured it out yet?" The Poochyena asked, tail wagging in anticipation. Her tail thumped softly into Haru's leg causing the Buizel to grimace before scooting away from the offending appendage.

"Yeah, it'll be a quick trip," Twizzler paused a moment scratching her beak idly. "Well, getting there anyways, no idea about once we're actually inside."

"What if there's nothing there when we turn up?" Haru asks through a mouthful of pancake.

Luna nodded her head towards the Buizel, Haru had a point what if they place had already been found. Cream flipped the map around so that Luna and Haru could get a better look at it.

"See I don't think that'll be a problem, for one thing it's at a spot that doesn't get much traffic," Cream started to explain before pointing a smaller diagram on the map. "Plus, there's a door with some kinda tile moving puzzle. I can't guarantee we'll be the first to find this place, but at the least there's probably some stuff still in there."

Haru shrugged, lifting his plate into the air away from Luna as the poochyena attempted to take a bite of his pancake. Foiled in her attempt she resorted to pouting at the Buizel until he lowered the plate. "That works for me then, are you two gonna actually eat something before we leave though?" Haru asked, face creasing in concern. Cream and Twizzler froze for a moment, the two pokemon turning to look at each before turning back to the Buizel.

"yeah," Cream answered laughing sweetly before shaking her head and digging into her own food. Twizzler quietly joined in as well devouring some monstrosity thatin Luna's opinion had been made with far to much sugar.

Cream's brother Chip rolled by to take all their dishes when the quartet had finished and left tossing out a quick "Hey," before disappearing to the back of the restaurant leaving the four alone again.

"So what do you guys think we'll find in this place?" Haru asked as Twizzler rolled up the map and stuffed it in a small satchel. The question got everyone thinking, Luna included. What could they possible find in ruins that most likely hadn't been touched in decades if not centuries.

"Pearls, i hope it's pearls." Twizzler, deep in thought, answered. "Or diamonds."

Luna nodded her head in agreement, still trying to think what she'd want to see her self. It finally came to her after a moment, she vaguely remembered a necklace she'd seen ages ago. A golden chain, wrapped around beautiful bright blue, red and green gemstones, the blue gems stuck out in her head the most. She'd asked her brother about the necklace once, it had only served to sadden the Furfrou who locked himself in his room for the rest of that day. Luna hadn't asked again after that.

"Sapphires, I hope it's sapphires," Luna said the thought of the blue gems capturing the imagination.

"Gold, old gold, coins from ages past." Luna glanced over at the white furred Vulpix as she answered. Cream's answered made since to Luna, the Vulpix had always shown an interest in old stuff, particularly valuable old stuff. It was probably one of the reasons she'd agreed with Twizzlers idea of being a treasure hunter, much closer than Luna's own reason. Cream at least was interested in all the treasure they might find, Luna just wanted a way off Hopeberry island.

She needed to stop thinking like that. Otherwise she'd just get upset and be of no help to anyone, they had a job to do after all didn't they.

"Well, everybody ready?"

XXXXX

Twizzler had been right, they'd found the place easily enough. A small cave like structure hiding a door hidden in the brush. It was by a beach on the north side of the island. The door itself was nothing special, all solid stone except for the tile puzzle Cream had mentioned. The puzzle itself seemed to be a number of tiles also stone, or possible coral, Luna couldn't quite tell. Cream went to work on the puzzle immediately.

Times like this were why Luna was so glad for how clever her Vulpix friend was. The Poochyena would never have been able to wrap her snout around this. Haru seemed as intrigued by the puzzle as Cream was, Twizzler however was off to the side staring out into the woods with a perplexed expression.

"Whatcha looking at Twiz?" Cream whispered to the Piplup. Said Piplup jumped in fright at the unexpected noise before turning around.

"Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry, you didn't answer the question though?"

"Thought i saw someone, nothing there though." Twizzler answered before looking over her shoulder once more.

"And done." Cream called out as the final tile slid into place revealing a, what had Cream called them, Luna tried to remember. A petroglyph, that was it, a petroglyph that greatly resembled the Legendary Kyogre. It made sense given the islands connection to the Legendary, a temple to the lady of the sea was the only other settlement on the island even.

There was a loud rumbling as stone began to shift and the door that had blocked there way sank into the floor. Behind the door had been a long narrow tunnel, dark sea foam colored bricks, and all along the corridor where the walls met the floor every few feet where long thin tubes that seemed to give off a faint blue light that illuminated the path ahead.

The four of them slowly, cautiously, made their way down the passage. Twizzler was leading the way with Haru right behind her talking quietly with Cream. Luna quietly took up the rear and mostly tried to stay out of everyone's way while examining yet more petroglyphs, mostly of various water type pokemon, carved into the walls.

"So i talked it over with my mom," Cream began to whisper to the Buizel beside her. Trying, and failing, to be as quiet as possible. "After we get back from this, no more sleeping in the woods."

Haru looked confused for a moment before the realization hit him. "Really?" He asked, surprise evident in his tone of voice. Cream nodded her head several times in affirmation.

"You'll be sharing a room with Chip, but he's already ok with it so we're all good. For however long we'll still be on Hopeberry anyways." The Vulpix seemed more excited than Luna was used to seeing her. Cream was a good pokemon, but she could be as distant as Corbeau sometimes, so it was nice to see her excited about something for a change. Haru actually seemed embarrassed, the Buizel pulled up the hood of his hoodie trying to hide his face. He failed miserable, the hood completely unable to obscure the water type's smile.

As they continued down the path the tunnel began to widen, opening up into a wide room. The room was made of much of the same sea foam brick as the tunnel had been, lit by the same lights as well. Though were it differed were the pools of almost deep blue water and the smell of sea salt. At the far end of the room was another large stone door like had been at the entrance. Though this one was a dark blue carved through with red line in the shape of Kyogre, much like the petroglyph on the entrance had been. To either side of it were large wooden, though Luna couldn't tell what kind of what wood, waterwheels sitting in their own pool . Neither wheel was turning but it looked like they still could.

"Another door?" Twizzler moaned in disappointment. "I was hoping for less doors and more," the Piplup trailed off looking around the room.

"Treasure?" Cream spoke up laughing at Twizzler as the Piplup dejectedly kicked a small rock into a nearby pool. Haru slowly walked to the left waterwheel trying to get a better look.

"Well everybody, spread out and lets try to open this door." Twizzler declared. The Piplup moved to join Haru by the edge of the pool. Twizzler didn't actually make it to far before seemingly tripping and slamming into Haru. The poor Buizel was sent sprawling into the pool vanishing beneath the water.

"Haru!" Twizzler cried out scrambling to the edge to help the Buizel. Said Buizel easily floated to the surface looking none the worse for his quick dip into the pool. "W-well at least we know the waters safe," she said apologetically shrugging at Haru who simply scowled back for a moment before he began to smile excitedly.

"There's a tiny little tunnel down here that i can just about fit through. I think it's connected to the door." The Buizel started to explain. "I bet there's something on the other side."

"You feel up to searching it?" It was Cream that asked the question, leaning over the rim of the pool trying to get a glimpse of the passage Haru had described Luna joining her quickly after that. She could just about make out the entrance when Haru gave Cream a little salute before diving back under and splashing all three of them with water.

Luna watched the Buizel through the murky waters as he attempted to push into the small passage. It only took a minute for the struggling water type to slip through and vanish to the other side. "Well he's in, so do we just wait for him to come back or keep looking around the room?" Luna asked tapping her paws slowly against the ground. The Poochyena was beginning to get antsy, a whole lot of sitting around instead of moving probably.

"I could check the other pool?" Twizzler asked. The piplup was kicking her feet absently in the pool haru had fell in.

"Sure." Cream waved at the pool. That was all the impetus Twizzler needed to dive into the opposite pool. Soon the piplup disappeared into yet another tunnel leaving Cream and luna alone in the gateway room.

"So what do you think this place is actually for," Luna asked glancing around the room. She couldn't see anymore petroglyphs, but the room seemed the same as the rest of the place had been.

"I'm not sure, maybe it's some kinda reliquary," Cream's answer was cut off as one of the waterwheels began to turn slowly. A loud grinding sound echoed through the room as the door began to shift slightly opening a crack.

Haru quickly bobbed out of the water by the moving wheel, looking frantically back and forth before catching sight of Luna and Cream. "Oh thank Arceus, I thought i'd set of some kinda trap or something." The Buizle began to relax before noticing a conspicuous Piplup shaped absence. "Where's Twizzler?"

"She's in the other pool," Cream answered before shaking her head and glaring at the Buizel. "What did you do?"

"Oh, well there was a small room on the other side, and a whole bunch of writing on the walls, super faded. I think it said something about turning a wheel, too much water damage though." Haru climbed out of the pool stopping for a moment to shake off the water that had clung to him before rejoining the others. "Whosoever idea it was to carve a bunch of words underwater should have been told why that was a bad idea. Anyway i tried to get closer and there was this tile on the floor. Only it wasn't a tile, it was kinda sorta a switch or something."

"And you stepped on it." Cream had dragged out the first word she'd spoken in response to the Buizel. Said Buizel could only laugh nervously and scratch the back of his head before trying to bury himself in his hood.

"Well, whatever he did it moved the door so it's probably a good thing. I hope." Luna attempted to placate Cream though there was little need for it. Everything had settled into a comfortable silence until Luna remembered the small orb the Ampharos had dropped that morning. The Poochyena tried to pull the small orb out of her bag, only to have trouble doing so, reminding Luna that she really needed to find a bigger bag if she was going to do this more often. The one she had was small and could barely hold anything, though she couldn't find it in her to part with the thing. After only a bit of struggling she managed to free the orb from the small bag.

"Cream, can you take a look at this? Someone dropped it in the woods this morning." Luna asked passing the orb over to the Vulpix, Haru leaned in to try and get a look as well. Cream rolled the orb a bit in her paws, examining it closely.

"It's an escape orb i think." Cream said, she sounded less confidant than she actually probably was. Luna had learned by now to trust the vulpix's judgement on what something was. Cream carefully handed the orb back. Luna knew what an escape orb was, though she's never actually seen one, it was like a psychic types teleportation. It would shunt pokemon, usually a small amount guided by the users intent, out of an enclosed space like a cave or building.

"Don't lose that, those are useful in places like this." Before the Vulpix could ask Luna anything else about the small orb there was a loud grinding noise as the second water wheel began to turn. The door let out an ear piercing screech as it slid fully open before them. Moments later Twizzler splashed out of the pool flopping none to gently onto the ground.

"Ow," the Piplup grumbled. "I meant to do that," She called out to no one in particular. Luna and Cream just shook there heads at the Twizzlers antics before helping the Piplup up. "So, there was a switch in there, and a whole bunch of words i couldn't read. Since i couldn't understand the words i just stepped on the switch to see what would happen." She offered in explanation.

"And if it had been a trap instead of a door switch?" Twizzler's face fell at Cream's questioning glare.

"We probably wouldn't be having this conversation." Twizzler said sullenly. The Piplup sighed theatrically before pointing to the now open door. "But i can see that it did work out for the better, and behold an open door." Her enthusiasm was likly to get them dropped into a spike pit or something equally as dangerous but it most certainly was infectious. "Come on, treasure awaits!"

The four of them passed through the now open door with no issue. It opened up to a large Open chamber. The chamber itself, though covered in dust was dominated in the center by a large statue of some kind of canine made of faded stone, with a massive crest and mane flowing behind it. There were two trailing ribbon like tails from behind, though one of the tails had snapped in half and was lying on the ground.

The most surprising thing they could see from the entrance though was sitting at the foot of the statue. A skeleton was sitting there, as if at rest, wrapped up in a tattered cloak made of some dark blue material. There was a hat made of a similar material nearby along with a staff sitting up against the statue next to the skeleton.

"Well...um, lets...look around?" Twizzler seemed to be just as surprised as Luna and the others to see the skeleton, but was also the first to remember why they'd come down here. Everyone nodded in agreement and split up to search the room.

Luna found herself seemingly pulled towards the skeleton. With a closer look Luna could just about make out dozens of little lines in the tattered cloak, all made of a lighter blue thread and seemingly stretching the length in random patterns. The design almost reminded her of rivers, or maybe canals. Despite the intriguing pattern and the weird sense of nostalgia it gave her the cloak wasn't what had Luna's attention, it was the staff beside the skeleton. It was made of some burnished blue metal, topped with a much smaller and thinner version of the same crest the statue had, said crest almost resembled a handle. Luna gripped it deftly by the middle in her jaws before giving it a twirl, it had a good weight to it and was surprisingly balanced despite the crest.

Luna took a quick look around the room to see if anyone else had found anything interesting. While Cream was just wandering around aimlessly, not having found anything interesting herself, both Twizzler and Haru were preoccupied with something at the back of the room.

Gripping the staff tightly Luna cantered over to join them curious as to what had caught there attention, Cream reaching the pair shortly after Luna did. On the wall before them was a metallic plate. Gold in color, probably actually gold but Luna couldn't tell the difference. The plate seemed to be inscribed with writing, which would have been great in Luna's opinion, if said writing hadn't been done in Unown runes, which none of them could read at least not well.

"It takes the deep blue sea."

Which none of them could read...except Haru apparently. While the three of them were busy staring at the Buizel in shock he continued reading the plate.

"And sings the oceans song."

Whatever the words were about they seemed to be a poem, though Luna wasn't an expert on poetry by any means she certainly hadn't heard this one before.

"Plays a sweet melody, That all will sing along." Haru finished reading and turned to the others just in time to catch their slack jawed expressions. "Guys?"

Twizzler was the first to actually regain enough sense to speak. "y-you can read that stuff?"

Haru seemed surprised at the question, reeling back slightly. "you can't?" The Buizel asked the shock was even more evident in his voice.

"Haru, i grew up in the Temple on the island here, they tried to teach me that stuff for a year. I could never quite wrap my head around it." Twizzler began to explain while Cream began to rummage in her bag looking for something. "I'd have been able to piece together eventually, like...a week from now, and it'd have been all fragmentary and barely understandable."

"Luna and I wouldn't even be able get that far with it," Cream said offhandedly still searching through her bag. "Though admittedly i haven't had much of a chance to learn and Twiz is a rather poor teacher. Here hold this up too the plate." Cream passed over a large sheaf of kraft paper to Haru before returning to her bag and pulling out a good sized bit of charcoal and handing it over to Twizzler. "Get me a rubbing of that it might be important."

"huh, well at least that means i'm helpful," Haru commented jovially as he held the paper up against the plate.

Haru and Twizzler quickly went to work making a charcoal rubbing of the plate. Luna meanwhile was trying to puzzle out what poem could have meant. It had to be describing something right? It brought up a melody, and a song, maybe the poem was about an instrument. Or maybe the poem was just being overly metaphorical.

It was in the midst of this musing that the Poochyena noticed something out of place. It was such a small thing she almost missed it at first, one of the bricks in the wall was jutting out, just a little bit.

"Hey guys, brick."

Everyone turned to look at Luna, confusion evident on all of there faces. They continued to stare while Luna tried to figure out why they were staring. It only took the Poochyena a few seconds to realize her mistake.

"Oh er, that was really vague wasn't it," She said. "One of the bricks under that plate is out of place."

The trio looked Luna, to the brick she began pointing at. The three of them picked up on it quick enough with the Poochyena's help.

"This has to be where the treasure is hiding guys." Twizzler called out triumphantly before attempting to pull out the brick with her bare flippers. She failed, miserably.

"Here, move over i have something that might-" Haru handed the finished charcoal rubbing to Cream before reaching into the pocket of his hoodie and pulling out one of those strange trowel shaped knives Luna had seen the Butterfree from yesterday throwing around. He must have kept it after the fight. The Buizel slid the tip of his knife into the gap between the brick and the wall and began to pry at it.

It didn't take very long for the Buizel to pry the brick loose. Haru took a step back as the brick clattered to the ground revealing a small azure colored harmonica wrapped in a shimmering blue veil like piece of cloth.

"Guys" Twizzler called out, shock evident in her voice.

"That's an Aqua Monica."


End file.
